Installing Solidworks 2009 From A Web Download; How-To

The how-to follows a quick interesting note:

In years past there was always this speculation that the files available for download for the newest version of Solidworks, was different from what would arrive on the DVD.  So while in Spain last week, I asked a couple of Solidworks technical people, and they reassured me that the file available for download, was the exact same image as what comes on the DVD.  This would mean being able to install the downloaded version, and not having to uninstall when the DVD arrived.  There was further question this morning going back and forth on twitter about what happens when SP 1 arrives, and we were told by a couple of Solidworks people that going from SP 0 download to SP 1 will not require an uninstall.  It was also said that using an install of the downloaded SP 0 would never require you to put in the DVD ever since the Service Packs are downloaded.  I will keep an eye on this as time goes along and report back.

I'm going to demonstrate how to do an individual installation using a stand alone license.  I will not be uninstalling 2008 beforehand.  One thing you may also want to do is runn the copy settins wizard to get a current file containing your settings just in case.  Now onto the installation procedure!

First off you need to have a valid working serial number, and access to the customer portal.  When you go to the downloads page you will need to select either 32 or 64 bit version depending on what operating system you are running.  Once you select the correct version, and agree to the end user license agreement, you will end up at the download page:

If you click the "click here" link, you will simply get the raw download file, and will get out of having to use the Solidworks Installation Manager (SWIM) which myself, and quite a few others have had issues with.  But were going to go ahead and click the blue download link, and give SWIM a chance to do its thing.

Now once you click the download link you will encounter one annoyance that using SWIM gives you.  Your cursor will change into the working symbol (hourglass), and stay that way for some time.  Now some people may figure the connection has been lost, and will want to stop what they are doing.  What's actually happening is that in the back round the SWIM is starting up, and gathering information.  What might be helpful at this point is if SWIM actually told you something was happening instead of leaving you guessing.  A minor annoyance, but easily solved in my opinion.

After the SWIM finishes loading, you get to the first screen which will display your current serial number:

I have taken the liberty of removing my serial number for obvious reasons, but it will show your number for you.  Now even if you uninstall 2008 and delete all the folders before doing this, the SWIM will still locate your serial number because it resides deep down in the registry of your computer.  So unless you clean out the registry, the number will be filled in for you.  The cleaning out of the registry files is also something some users swear by, but I have never seen a detriment to leaving it alone.

The next screen will ask you for what type of installation you are doing.  I will be choosing Individual since this will be a single install.  Now the third option shown is pretty much the equivalent of downloading the raw file so you can share the files for other installs, but in whats another quirk of the SWIM I'm going to demonstrate how you can do that even if you continue on with the SWIM.  Here is the screen:

The next screen will ask you for upgrade options.  If you have stand alone Solidworks with no other add-in's, go for the upgrade and let me know how it goes.  I have Solidworks Premium, so I'm going to choose new installation so I get updates to all my products:

The next screen is where you have to sift through a bit of information to understand whats going on.  Now if you look at it long enough, it becomes easy to understand what this screen is trying to show you, but this is definitely an area of the SWIM that could use a little help in cleaning up.  The screen shows you what options are going to be installed, and those that aren't.  There are a few plus signs you have to click if you want to see more options to turn off.  For the most part the SWIM does a good job of selecting the correct stuff.  For instance it unchecks all the language packs and stuff thats not widely used including the API tools.  Normally I only have to uncheck the PDM stuff since we don't use it.  This would be a nice place to see some sort of reference showing what you currently use so you can decide better.  To actually mark something to not get installed, you actually have to select it, and then choose the do not install option.  A series of simple check boxes might make this screen a little bit easier to understand and navigate.  Here is the screen:

Pay attention, at the bottom of the screen it shows the installation size, and not the download size.  In fact because of file compression, your download size will be about half of that.

The next screen will ask you about hole wizard and toolbox file locations.  What you choose here is very important if you have users that are staying on an older version.  If you overwrite their files, they will be slightly mad at you!  We use a parts library on the network, and also share our hole wizard database there too, so I install these locally just to have access for reference, or for articles and blog posts.  Read the options carefully and decide your best choice:

The next screen can be kinda confusing.  The only reason you would use the second option is if your first installation failed, and you were trying to reinstall, which I had to do (more on that later).  Anyhow, simply select the first option and move on:

And now your ready to download as the next screen will show you:

This screen is your last chance to go back and make changes.  At this point its best to choose the first option, and to also check the automatic install.  At this point you can click download now, and go home if you like. 

It will take some time to download 2gb of files:

My download took about 4 hours on DSL, I guarantee yours will be different.  It downloaded just fine, and then started to install.  About half way through I decided to multitask and inserted a USB thumb drive into the computer.  This crashed the installer during the installation of eDrawings, so I had to re-run the SWIM and have it finish the installs of eDrawings, PV360 and DWGEditor.  As a general rule of installing big software, never try to use the computer for other tasks at the same time, this includes twitter and youtube!

All in all the SWIM worked for me successfully for the first time in a long time.  This is not to say that I wasn't using it wrong in the past, and I can say that there is some movement inside Solidworks to revamp the interface to make it easier to use and understand.  The few things I pointed out have been shared with Solidworks, and I would imagine being contemplated.

For now, if you choose to go this route, I would recommend giving the SWIM a shot.  Every computer is different, so you may encounter different issue than I did.  If so, please drop me a note so that it can be passed along to Solidworks for review.  Also if you have success, let me know that too!

Now I mentioned at the beginning about how you can reuse the download files to install on other machines?  Well if you followed my method, your not supposed to be able to do it, unless I completely misunderstood the SWIM interface.  Anyhow, here is how you can do it.

On this screen:

if you click the Customise Download Folder and Settings, you will see where the files are going to be stored:

I highlighted a somewhat criptic message that confuses me just a little.  I'm thinking the reason to leave these files intact is for when you apply service packs, it wont require the DVD.  Anyhow, if you browse to that location, here is what you should see:

First off, your default location may be different, but the first screen will tell you exactly where it is.  Next you will want to simply burn a copy of the SolidWorks 2009 SP0 folder onto a DVD, and you can then use that to deploy Solidworks 2009 to other computers.  Inside that folder there is a file named SolidWorks 2009 SP0 Installation Manager.  Double click it, and install away.

Just to note, if you look at the picture above, you will see nearly 10gb of files!  Now with a 250gb hard drive, thats not bad, but do they need to be there?  My thought process is that I can delete the older versions, but leave the current one in place for future use.  Just another thing I wish the SWIM would be a little more clear about.  Anyhow, give it a go, and let me know how it works out fo you!      

Comments

[langgeng]

What should I do with the dialog box which appear at the first time when I run the program. The dialog box message was "A problem was encountered accessing the proper security device. The device may be missing or have invalid information. The application will be terminated immediately."

Thank you

[palli]

how can i get my serial number,i lost it before installation. i can't get my serial number on the box of solidworks as it was totally ruined by my younger brother.plz help me to get out of this problem.
thanks !!!!!

[CharlesCulp]

That's one heck of a blog post. Hopefully we can all swim through this choppy water more quickly with your examples.

[Jason Raak]

Great post Mike!

I like how you broke it down step by step with a summary of what to look for and whats going to happen.

Keep it up!

[Josh]

awesome man. I'm gonna link this up on the post I'm writing also.